In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the title character stumbles upon a fascinating object, the Mirror of Erised. Professor Dumbledore informs him that it tells neither the present, nor the future, nor the past. Instead it reveals “the deepest, most desperate desires of our hearts.”

J. K. Rowling’s mesmerizing invention underscores something about human nature: we do not merely exist. We want something. We’re headed somewhere. And as the philosopher James K. A. Smith convincingly argues in his book, You Are What You Love, that something we long for is a kingdom—not just a private Eden, but a world of human flourishing.

And while such a world is everyone’s desire, humanity is no closer to it than our earliest ancestors. Why are we so incapable of producing such a world? And for Christians especially, how do we justify our claim that Jesus is King of kings while our world is still in such a mess? Where is the good life, the ideal world, the human flourishing we all long for?